Houston, TX (Best E Casino) - Houston Rockets guard Steve Francis elected to pick up his player option on the final year of his contract Wednesday.

Francis, who returned to Houston last summer after two sub-par years with the Knicks, averaged career lows this season with 5.5 points 3.0 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game in only 10 contests.

The 31-year-old's season was hampered by injury, culminating in season-ending surgery to repair a torn quadriceps tendon in his right knee in late February.

Over nine seasons, the Washington, DC-area native has posted averages of 18.1 points, 6.0 assists and 5.6 rebounds in 576 games with the Rockets, Magic and Knicks.